Bed frames of various types and kinds are now in use in caskets and have been for many years. The bed frame, in conjunction with pillows and mattresses, is used to support the deceased. To assist in casketing the body and adjusting the position of the body, the bed frame is typically mounted on a lift mechanism that raises and lowers the vertical position of the casket bed. Additionally, to provide viewers with a more direct and natural view of the deceased, one end of the bed frame is generally made tiltable or rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the casket. Although existing devices are able to perform the desired functions, they nonetheless suffer certain drawbacks. In particular, the lift mechanisms typically use an upright L-shaped bracket with the bed frame resting on the foot of the "L" and the leg of the "L" being threaded to threadedly engage a drive screw. This arrangement prevents the bed frame from being raised to the top edge of the casket, thereby making it difficult to casket the body.
In Hillenbrand U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,517, the bed frame may, however, be raised flush with the top edge of the casket. This is accomplished by mounting the bed frame on the top of a bed frame supporting bracket rather than in a lower portion of an "L" bracket. The bracket is pivotally mounted with a rivet to a plate that is, in turn, threadably mounted on a drive shaft. The height of the bed frame is adjusted via the drive shaft. To tilt the bed frame, a separate shaft is mounted in the casket parallel to the drive shaft and slidably supports a gear that meshes with teeth on the bracket such that rotation of the gear via the gear shaft tilts the bracket and bed frame.
The existing devices suffer additional deficiencies. The numerous components of the various lift mechanisms are typically manufactured from metal. Although this is satisfactory for conventional interment, the use of metal components causes difficulties when cremation is chosen. In addition, each of the numerous components of the lift mechanism are either separately secured directly to the casket or assembly of the mechanism mandates that at least some of the components be first secured within the casket requiring considerable time and effort in the assembly operation of the mechanism into the casket.
Attempts have been made to manufacture lift mechanisms from wood to render them combustible, but these too have created difficulties. First, wood is difficult to work with, i.e., difficult to fashion into the desired functional lift elements. Further, the wood components may gall or splinter in use, particularly with the weight that is applied. Still further, wood is expensive to use.
Therefore, there has been a significant need for lift and lift/tilt mechanisms for the bed of a casket that permit the bed frame to be raised to the top of the casket frame, are fully combustible, and can be easily and quickly attached to the casket.